Branding device



June 11, 1929.

H. W. WHITED BRANDING DEVICE Filed Aug. 17, 1928 Inventor fi W ll fiil'ed,

Patented June 11, 1929.

HARRY W. WHITED, OF NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS.

BRANDING DEVICE.

Application filed August 17, 1928.

The object of my said invention is the provision of a branding device designed more particularly for marking lumber and characterized by compactness, simplicity and sturdiness in construction, and also characterized by its capacity for enclosing the heated branding element when not in use, with a view oi guarding against a fire being started by said element.

To the attainment of the foregoing, the invention consists in the improvement as hereinatter described and definitely claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification:

Figure 1 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation of the preferred embodiment of my invention, which has been reduced to actual practice, the handle of the device being broken partly away.

Figure 2 is a detail view, partly in section and partly in elevation. said Figure 2 being taken at a plane at right angles to Figure 1..

Similarnumerals of reference designate like parts in all oi the views of the drawings.

Among other elements, my novel device comprises a metallic housing 1, entirely open at its lower end and having at its upper end a central sleeve 2. The said housing 1 is equipped with prongs or-legs 3, pointed at their lower ends and attached at 4 to opposite ends of the housings and slightly offset as at 5. I would further have it understood that normally the lower end of the housing 1 is closed by swingable gates 6, connected by spring hinges 7 to the housing 1 and adapted to be closed to be yieldingly maintained in closed position, Figures 1 and 2, by the springs of the hinges alluded to.

Manifestly the offsets 5 of the tongues or legs 3 prevent said tongues or legs from interfering with free movement of the gates 6 to and from the closed position illustrated.

Disposed and movable out of and into the housing 1 is the plunger portion of my improvement. The said plunger portion includes an appropriate handle 8 of wood, fiber, or other appropriate material, and a metallic tube 9. which carries the said handle 8 and is equipped with an abutment of annular form. The said tube 9 is arranged in and movable through the before mentioned sleeve 2' and the housing 1 and terminates at its lower end in ahead 11.

Surrounding the tube 9 and interposed between the sleeve 2 and the abutment 10 is an expansion spring 12, the purpose of which Serial No. 300.303.

is to return the plunger portion of the device to the position shown in Figures 1 and 2, subsequently to a depression of the plunger portion. In addition to the said tube 9 and its head 11, the plunger portion of my improve ment comprises a block 13 of compressed asbestos of other appropriate material, a block 14 of similar material, an electrical heating element 15, a layer of mica or other appropriate insulating material 16, and a branding element 17 of iron or other appropriate material. The electric heating element 15 is intel-posed between the block 14: and the layer 16 of insulating material, and the branding element 17 is disposed in'nnediately below the insulating layer 15. The head 11, block 13, block 1 1, insulating layer 15, and branding elements 17 are connected and held together through the medium oi bolts 18 on which are nuts 19, Figures 1 and 2. The electric heating element 15 may be of any type compatible with the purpose of my invention, and it will be understood that if the terminals are connected to wires 19 extended upwardly through the blocks 14 and 13 and are disposed in recesses 20, in the upper side of the blocks 13 and are connected to binding means 21, pret- .erably in the form of a nut on bolt 22, which are disposed in the blocks 13 and have their heads seated in said recess 23, at the lower side of the blocks 13. At 2-1 are insulating coverings for electric wires 25, the lower uncovered portions of which are disposed in the blocks 13 and are connected to the screws 22. The insulated or covered portion of the wires 22 are extended through the tube 9, to the rear end of said. tube, beyond the handle 8 and are adapted to be electrically connected with a source of electric current supply (not shown).

As will be readily understood from the drawings, with the parts normally arranged as illustrated, the heated burning element 17 is entirely enclosed and adequately guarded, and consequently there is no liability of a fire being caused by said elements.

In the practical use of my novel device, the points of the prongs 3 are placed against the end, of the piece of lumber to be branched, and then the plunger 9 is moved rectilinearly against the action of the spring 12, with the result that the element 17 will first act against the gate or doors 6 and open the same and will then move forwardly to and mark the end of the piece of lumber.

Manifestly, when the handle 8 is relieved 0t pressure, the spring 12 will operate to return the plunger portion of the device to the position shown in Figures 1 and 2, and'iinmediatelyfollowing the passage of the burning element 17 into the housing 1, the gates or doors'6 will be closed by the springs complementary thereto.

ltwill be noted that not only is the device simple, compact and sturdy in construction, but it is convenient to use, and is effective in operation, and this with the imposition of but a minimum amount of eifort on the operator.

I have entered into a specific description of the present and preferred embodiment of my invention in order to impart a full, clear and exact unc erstanding of the said embodiment. I do not desire, however, to be understood as limiting myself to the construction disclosed, my invention being defined by my appended claims, within the scope of which modifications may be made without departure from my invention.

I claim:

1. A branding device comprising a housing open at its forward end and having a sleeve at its rear end, prongs connected to and extending forwardly from said housing, yielding means for normally closing the forward end of the housing, a plunger portion including a tube guided in the sleeve of the housing and having a head disposed within the housing, said plunger portion also including superposed blocks, an insulating layer and a branding element connected to said head, an electrical heating element interposed between the lowermost block and the insulating layer, connecting'nieans carried'by the upper block, lectric connections extending through the blocks, and connecting said connecting means and said heating element, and wires connecting to said connecting means and extending through the upper block and through the tube and adapted to be connected with a source of electric energy, means where by the closing means is closed following retraction of theplunger portion.

2. A branding device comprising a housing open at its forward end and having a sleeve at its rear end, prongs connected to and extending forwardly from said housing, yielding means for normally closing the forward end of the housing, a plunger portion including a tube guided in the sleeve of the housing and having a head disposed within the housing, said plunger portion also including superposed blocks, an insulating layer,

'the said plunger being provided with an abutment, on the tube thereof, and the plunger portion being retracted through the medium of a spring mounted on said tube and disposed between the sleeve of the housing and the abutment of the tube.

In a branding device, and in combination. a tube terminating at one end in a hollow head, blocks opposed to said head, the block adjacent to the head having a recess in its side remote from the head, an insulating plate spaced from the other block, an electric heating element disposed between said block and said insulating plate, the branding element disposed at the opposite sides of the insulating plate with reference to the heating element, means connecting the head, blocks, insulating plates, and branding elements, connections carried by the block adjacent the head and electrically connected with the heating element, and conductors extending from said connections through the block adjacent the head and through the tubes and adapted to'be connected with a source of electrical energy.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HARRY 'W. WHITED. 

